After Ever After

Plot:
Eight-grader Jeffery is a cancer survivor, but his treatment caused many side-effects that he is trying to learn to live with, now that he has been cancer free for five years. He struggles with math, walks with a limp, he has difficulty concentrating, and has very few friends. His best friend is Tad, who is also a “cancer kid”, but Tad’s cancer isn’t in remission like Jeff, so Jeff deals with survivor guilt whenever he is with Tad. Jeff hits it off with new girl Lindsey almost instantly, and adds first love to his list of things to figure out. The one thing Jeff can do is ride a bike, which becomes his escape when he finds things too difficult to deal with. The major event in the story is a state-wide test that Jeff must show more pass in order to graduate from Eighth grade. He is determined to pass the exam so he can move on to high school with Tad and Lindsey.

Comments:

The book is written in first person, so the reader develops a real connection with Jeff. Jeff lived so much of his life as a cancer patient that it is hard for him to let go of those memories, especially being best friends with Tad, who uses a wheelchair and is still in treatment. Jeff’s cancer has shaped his life, and his family’s. Aside from the side effects of the cancer treatments, Jeff also has to deal with being a teenage boy – girlfriend and all. The one person he could always depend on was his brother, Steven. Steven left for college, and then decided he also needed to figure out his life now that he isn’t Jeff’s rock anymore. The reader gets a clear picture of how cancer touches more than just the patient.

Although Jeff’s determination and positive outlook waver throughout the book, Sonnenblick does a great job using humor and sarcasm in both Jeff’s narrative and his dialog with Tad and Lindsey. I found Jeff to be a very relatable teenager, and think that the cancer plot almost melts away at times and you just see Jeff, an authentic teenage boy trying to figure out where he fits in his world.

After Ever After is a sequel to Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, which is told from Steven’s perspective, about having a brother with Leukemia. It isn’t necessary to read them in order – both are great stand alone books. show less

If you’ve read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick, then you MUST read After Ever After.

Actually, if you haven’t read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, you should still read After Ever After…and then read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie too.

Actually, let’s make this easy…if you see a book by Jordan Sonnenblick…read it. And let me just say in advance…you’re welcome.

After Ever After is another winner by Jordan Sonnenblick. He spent 11 years teaching middle school before he started writing full-time. Maybe that’s why when you read his books you can tell that he gets what it’s like to be a middle school student.

After Ever After is a follow-up to the book Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, in which 8th grader show more Steven Alper is faced with his 5-year-old brother’s leukemia diagnosis. In After Ever After, Jeffrey Alper, Steven’s brother, is now in 8th grade himself and has his own story to tell.

Though in remission, the cancer is never far from Jeffrey’s mind. He still worries that it will return. In addition, he has to handle all of the normal stuff that middle school students deal with. Like just meeting the girl of his dreams. And trying to figure out what is up with his best friend Tad, a fellow cancer survivor, who has been acting strange and keeping secrets. Also, there are the impending state standardized math tests that Jeffrey must pass or he'll be forced to repeat the 8th grade. On top of it all, he'd love to be able to talk to his brother Steven about everything, but unfortunately Steven is "wandering around Africa with a pair of bongos strapped to his back" trying to "find himself.“

After Ever After is an honest, funny look at a middle-school student's emotional roller-coaster of a life. show less

Jeffrey isn't a little boy with cancer anymore. He's a teen who's in remission, but life still feels fragile. The aftereffects of treatment have left Jeffrey with an inability to be a great student, or to walk without limping. His parents still worry about him. His older brother, Steven, lost it and took off to Africa to be in a drumming circle and 'find himself'. Jeffrey has a little soul searching to do, too, which begins with his escalating anger at Steven, an old friend who is keeping something secret, and a girl who is way out of his league but who thinks he's cute.

I absolutely love how Sonnenblick built a community, and then wrote several books about different characters. That strategy provides the reader with the comfort of a series, but the freshness of stand-alone novels. The back-story explanations in this one were just a titch awkward, and the author clearly had a message to convey which gave this book a whiff of didactism, but I still enjoyed it a lot and predict all his fans will too.

I cried. I loved seeing the change in Jeff from the first book to this one; though the way they talked was a little dated even in the year it was written. I don't think anyone said abbrevations aloud in 2010, but I still loved it!

Spoiiers below;
Now why would we do that to Thad. I was expecting him to be okay, but like the other best Sonnenblick book (Midnight Driver), he decided it was the perfect time to break my heart.

Interest/Reading Level: Grades 6-10

Synopsis: A boy named Jeffrey is in the 8th grade and is cancer remission. As a result of the medication and other treatments he received, he has lingering affects remaining. He walks with a limp and has some difficulty with his academics. Specifically, he is not doing well in Algebra. Jeffrey’s main support system includes his mother and father, and his brother Steven who has recently left for Africa to “find himself.” Jeffrey tries his best to get through 8th grade without his brother, but he is suffering. Another boy, Tad, returns to school after a lengthy absence from school due to his own battle with cancer. Tad is wheelchair bound, or so it is implied, and still battling his cancer. Jeffrey show more is determined to get Tad to walk on his own so they both may “walk the stage” for 8th grade graduation. Jeffrey’s challenge is Algebra which is Tad’s strength. Tad’s challenge is walking and with Jeffrey strength being an exercise nut, they set out to help each other. Just to add to the story, a lovely young girl, Lindsey enters the scene. Jeffrey is smitten with her and soon the feelings are returned. The three become an interesting triad helping each other through the day-to-day events they face. As culminating testing gets closer, both boys face obstacles. Jeffrey’s difficulty to pass the state exam and Tad’s declining health may prevent them from graduating from 8th grade.

Review: I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would. Being a math teacher, this book hit a particular nerve with respect to students having no confidence in becoming proficient in the content. Jeffrey conquered the cancer albeit with lingering affects to his body and brain, but takes time to conquer the math. Tad’s story is nicely introduced and his challenges, while not academic, still need to be conquered as well. I especially like that the “cute girl” (Lindsey) saw past the physical with Jeffrey and likes him for who he is. This is an important concept for high school students to embrace who they are as they go through their adolescence years. The format was interesting as Jeffrey writes letters and messages to his brother Steven. The text changes fonts adding to the readability as Jeffrey talks to Steven, remembers conversations with Tad and Lindsey, and does his school work. The book almost reads like a diary and I felt I had privilege of reading it secretly. Of course, the end is a bit predictable, but was well done. I didn’t choke up until Jeffrey mentions he sees his mother at the end of the race. She is walking to the finish line to meet Jeffrey. Jeffrey says, “Maybe twenty feet before I crossed the line, I realized she was crying.” Tears dropped. The worst days of being a mother are when we have to tell our children really, really bad news. When talking about the infamous question (what did you learn from this?), I believe students will gain a perspective that nothing is forever, surround yourself with people who love and care about you, and stay in the moment. show less

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

AFTER EVER AFTER by Jordan Sonnenblick is the sequel to DRUMS, GIRLS, & DANGEROUS PIE. It is eight years later and life is continuing for the Alper family.

Jeffrey is ironically starting the eighth grade. That's the grade his older brother, Steven, was in when Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia. Jeffrey is now in remission from the disease, but he suffers from some side effects from the chemo treatment that saved his life. He walks with a limp, his attention wanders easily, and his brain just refuses to process anything related to math.

Not a big deal, you say. Well, if your father is an accountant and the mailman has just delivered a letter saying that every eighth grader show more in the state must pass a set of required tests, including a math test, or repeat the eighth grade, let's just say things have looked rosier.

A lot of other things have changed for Jeffrey, as well. His brother graduated from high school and went off to college. Again, not a big deal, but then Steven decided after three years of college that he would drop everything and head to Africa to become part of a drum circle. That left Jeffrey on his own to deal with his last year of middle school.

Fortunately, back in fourth grade, Jeffrey found his best friend, Tad. Tad was also a cancer survivor. In fact, Tad had survived the disease twice. It left him weak enough to need a wheelchair, but it certainly strengthened his wit and wisdom when it came to dealing with daily life.

When Tad learns about the state testing requirement, he steps up to help Jeffrey by becoming his official math tutor. The two make a deal that Jeffrey will study hard to pass the test, and Tad will train hard so he is able to walk across the eighth grade graduation stage under his own power.

Jordan Sonnenblick continues Jeffrey's story in his signature style using an authentic teenage voice and laugh-out-loud humor. By asking his main character to adjust to a learning disability and a physical handicap, as well as changes in his family structure, Sonnenblick creates a new depth to the sequel. The determination he showed as a young boy dealing with cancer helps him with the struggle to be successful at school and also at any new challenges thrown his way.

This is a sequel I was not expecting, but I was thrilled when it came to my attention. show less